Rondo leads Kentucky to upset

Rajon Rondo scored 25 points, setting a career high for the fourth time this season, and No. 23 Kentucky rebounded from its worst loss in 16 years to beat No. 4 Louisville 73-61 on Saturday in Lexington, Ky.

Kentucky beat its archrival in consecutive years for the first time since winning three straight over the Cardinals from 2000 to 2002.

Louisville coach Rick Pitino – who restored Kentucky basketball to glory in the 1990s – has a 34-3 record in December during his five seasons with the Cardinals (6-1) with all three losses to Kentucky.

It was the 350th career victory for Kentucky’s Tubby Smith. He is one of seven coaches to reach 350 wins in 15 seasons or less. His record is 350-123 in 15 seasons at Tulsa, Georgia and Kentucky.

Kentucky (7-3) had lost two of its previous three games, including a 26-point defeat against Indiana on Dec. 10.

Louisville, playing away from home for the first time this season, made one of its first 14 shots while Kentucky took a 13-3 lead. The Cardinals finished 21 of 60 from the field (35 percent).

Taquan Dean had 14 points and six assists for Louisville.

(5) Memphis 72, Mississippi 49: At Oxford, Miss., Rodney Carney, Memphis’ sixth man, scored 19 points to lead the Tigers.

Memphis (8-1) never trailed, led by as many as 24 points and shot nearly 44 percent in winning its fifth straight game.

Carney, a senior captain and the preseason player of the year in Conference USA, showed off a variety of highlight-reel dunks and sent home happy a huge group of Memphis fans who made the 90-mile drive to Oxford.

Shawne Williams added 13 points for the Tigers. Clarence Sanders led the Rebels (6-3) with 13 points.

Tennessee 95, (6) Texas 78: At Austin, Texas, Chris Lofton scored 21 points and Tennessee maintained its perfect record under first-year coach Bruce Pearl by handing the Longhorns their second straight blowout loss.

C.J. Watson added 17 points for Tennessee (6-0), which hit 12 3-pointers, hounded Texas into 22 turnovers and routinely sliced through the Longhorns’ normally tough defense for easy baskets.

P.J. Tucker had 20 points and 11 rebounds to lead Texas (8-2), which was booed briefly by the home crowd in the first half.

(8) Oklahoma 68, Southern 54: At Norman, Okla., Taj Gray had 22 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Sooners (6-1) past the Jaguars.

Gray, the Big 12 preseason player of the year, averaged only 10.3 points over Oklahoma’s first four games but has averaged 20.7 points over the past three.

Chris Alexander, who played with Gray at Redlands (Okla.) Community College, scored a career-high 20 points to lead Southern (1-7).

(15) George Washington 98, Maryland-Eastern Shore 72: At Washington, Danilo Pinnock scored 18 points to lead five George Washington players in double figures.

Pops Mensah-Bonsu had 16 points, nine rebounds and three blocks for the Colonials (8-0), off to their best start since 1953-54 when they won their first 11 games.

George Washington took control with a 20-4 run midway through the first half.

Tim Parham led Maryland-Eastern Shore (2-8) with 21 points and nine rebounds.

(16) Wake Forest 61, Princeton 42: At Winston-Salem, N.C., Eric Williams had 15 points and Justin Gray added 14 as Wake Forest bounced back from a rare home loss.

Trent Strickland had 13 points and nine rebounds for the Demon Deacons (8-2), who were beaten by DePaul Wednesday night to end their 21-game win streak at Lawrence Joel Coliseum.

Kyle Koncz had 17 points for the Tigers (2-6), who were coming off a 41-21 loss to Monmouth, the lowest-scoring Division I game since the introduction of the 3-point line.

(19) North Carolina 76, Santa Clara 58: At Chapel Hill, N.C., Tyler Hansbrough scored 14 points to lead the Tar Heels, who avenged the Broncos’ stunning upset last season.

Reyshawn Terry scored eight of his 13 points during a key, second-half run for the Tar Heels (6-1), who pulled away midway through the half in their first game after a 10-day exam break. Freshman Bobby Frasor also had 13 points to go with five rebounds and four assists.

Travis Niesen had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Broncos (4-4).

South Alabama 66, (25) Houston 62: At Mobile, Ala., Richard Law and Chey Christie each scored 12 points in South Alabama’s sixth straight win.

The win streak is the longest for South Alabama (7-1) since the 1999-2000 season when the Jaguars won eight in a row. This is their best start since the 1983-84 season.

Law made two free throws with 19 seconds left to give South Alabama a 65-62 lead. After a missed 3-pointer by Houston (4-2), Mario Jointer made one of two from the line with 4 seconds left for the final margin.

Jamar Thorpe had 18 points for the Cougars, who moved into the Top 25 this week for the first time since the 1992-93 season.